Obey The Present Voice

When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

Luke 5:4

Simon Peter was an experienced fisherman from a line of fishermen. Fishing was what he knew. If a person had a question about fishing, Simon Peter would have been an excellent resource.

Simon had spent the night fishing. He had done everything right, used all his skill and all his training and all his experience. And he and his nets had come up empty.

Now right in the middle of Simon’s emptiness, Jesus showed up. Our stories about Jesus seeking us out often use the phrase “It just happened.” Simon had not been seeking Jesus out; Jesus sought Simon out. Jesus borrowed a boat to launch out from the shore so he could teach the crowds from a better acoustical perch. It “just happened” that the boat he used belonged to Simon. It “just happened” that Simon’s failed fishing trip positioned him for an encounter with Jesus.

I imagine Simon—macho, proud, quick-tempered, passionate Simon—hearing this rabbi named Jesus, who knew nothing of fishing, tell him how to fish. The last thing he wanted to do after a night of disappointing effort was launch out again.

But Simon decided to do what Jesus was telling him to do, whether it made sense to him or not. Even if he thought it might well be a waste of time, Simon decided to obey Jesus’ present-tense command.

In this encounter, we see the promise that Jesus makes in our lives as well. When we obey him in the present moment, it will change the moments that follow. When Simon launched out into the deep at Jesus’ direct command, he accomplished what all his skill and training and experience could not. Every obedience to the present voice of the present Jesus opens our lives to his miraculous work.

Lord Jesus, open my ears to hear your voice in my now. I say with Samuel, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.

Oswald Chambers(1874–1917), Scottish minister and teacher